Israel Handbook - Softcover

Winter, Dave

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0658003682 ISBN 13: 9780658003684

Publisher: Passport Books, 2000

Synopsis

These brand-new or newly updated guides feature the authoritative and detailed coverage characteristic of all Footprint Handbooks. The authors are experts who have lived or worked in the countries they write about, and their prose will inspire readers to enjoy traveling as much as they do. -- Hands down -- the most current and authoritative resource for maps and vital global information -- Packed with up-to-date information including highlights of virtually every town and site -- Includes money-saving tips, advice on staying healthy, and anecdotes on local history, culture, customs, and etiquette

About this title

Review

It is interesting to watch certain destinations, once considered esoteric, become extremely popular. Israel is a classic example: at one time thought inhospitable, many now consider it very nearly the perfect tourist destination. Israel may be a compact land, but few countries can compete with the remarkable range and variety of the country's attractions. Those looking for an informative and user-friendly guide would be well advised to try this new edition of Footprint's Israel Handbook. The company has taken over two years to develop a new format (with their travel-proof paperback covers), and the hallmark of these guides is a more relaxed, discursive style for contemporary travellers.

Think of Israel, and you think of the Red Sea, and this is one area in which David Winter's vivid and idiosyncratic guide really shines. The meditative beauty of the country is evoked, along with such active pursuits as skiing on Mount Hermon. Some may prefer a more colourfully illustrated volume, but there is a strong argument for making the text the crucial element, as Winter does here: no brief asides for him--this is closely typed, highly detailed information that leaves no stone unturned in pointing out just exactly what the wily traveller has to do to get the most from the country.

Many will, of course, judge a book like this on its treatment of Jerusalem and the West Bank. These are areas in which the guide is at its surest: the Old City, the Via Dolorosa and Mount Zion are conjured with great skill, and Winter walks the tightrope of the West Bank with perfect judgement: nobody would want an anodyne treatment of the trickier areas, and that is not what Winter gives us. Throughout, Winter guides travellers away from the possible problems towards the smoothest and most enjoyable holiday experience. And what intelligent traveller wouldn't welcome advice like this nugget:

The water of the Dead Sea tastes extremely unpleasant, and may make you feel sick if swallowed. Because of the high salt content, the water causes agony in every minute scratch and cut; thus the Dead Sea region is a haven for designer stubble and George Michael lookalikes, since shaving prior to a dip in the sea is not to be recommended.

--Barry Forshaw

From the Publisher

Welcome to Footprint!
Dear Fellow Traveller,

Thank you for checking out the Israel Handbook. Footprint are an independent British publisher based in Bath. We specialise in providing travellers with guide books that are second to none for accurate, up-to-date and relevant information. You will find that most of our guides are simply the most comprehensive available with in-depth commentary on history, culture and customs as well as practical travel information (such as where to stay, places to eat and getting from A to B). Our major titles are updated ANNUALLY to ensure you have the best info to hand. You might like to know that we also publish Handbooks to Jordan, Syria & Lebanon and Egypt as well as an extremely useful general guide to travelling: The Traveller's Handbook. Finally, whichever guidebook you choose, we would like to wish you an exciting, illuminating and above all enjoyable trip! Best Wishes, Footprint.

Edition details

• Publisher: Passport Books
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0658003682
• ISBN 13: 9780658003684
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2